Bulls 104, Pacers 99: Welcome to Playoff Hockey

"You should be honored by my lateness. That I would even show up to this fake shit."

Ideally, we all would have learned something about playoff basketball, the beast that it is, two years ago when a vastly inferior Bulls team took the defending champion Celtics to the edge in Derrick Rose's rookie season. It earned Greatest First Round Series Ever appointments even before it was through, and exists as one of the most endearing moments of Chicago sports in the aughts. At least five of those seven games were major nail biters; if Vinny Del Negro still has nightmares about Ray Allen, I wouldn't blame him.

So why, exactly, was Game One of the Bulls' first post-MJ title run so much of a shock to the system? Color me naive -- maybe it's a personal problem -- but that game was straight-up *jarring*, even beyond the running score. "The playoffs exist in another gear", we know, but the old adage can never really be comprehended until the first time it smacks you in the head. On Saturday, it became imprinted forever the third or fourth time Rose was clobbered heading to the hoop -- some hits borderline dirty, all worthy of the vaunted Hard Foul tag. Maybe I should have anticipated this, but much like Goran Dragic, I missed the memo. It reminded me of the Blackhawks' championship chase a season ago: boasting "raised intensity" feels like a too-easy cop out, but there's no getting around that everything is just harder. Playoff hoops, you guys. Not really all that different from playoff hockey.

Fortunately for the Bulls, Derrick Rose's body is ironclad, just like his will. Forget the Jordan comparisons, Rose's effort in Game One was vintage D. Wade, 2006 Finals Edition. Derrick Rose put his head down, and Derrick Rose got to the hoop. It's the Bulls' best play, and when Carlos Boozer sucks as hard as he sucked on Saturday, it feels like the only way they can score at all. There was nothing free about those 21 foul shots, though. Rose was battered, to the point where it has to be a concern as the tournament goes on and the ferocity only grows.

I'm weary of drawing too many parables from MJ's Bulls -- times change and so do people -- but the Jordan Rules vibes were simply too heavy to ignore. I'm too young to remember those late 80's wars against the Pistons, but the Pacers apparently have the VHS tape in possession. It's a good strategy: when Rose beats your defender off the dribble -- a given, practically -- you might as well try to knock his block off. If there's an unwanted side-effect, from Indiana's perspective, it's that you simply couldn't conceive a better way to piss off your obviously superior opponent. Those fourth quarter outbursts of emotion from Luol Deng and Joakim Noah will live forever, and those aren't possible without a spark. You can thank Jeff Foster for that.

So yes, the heightened atmosphere is mostly what I'll remember about Game One -- well, that and Boozer's garbage. In retrospect, it feels like a syllabus for what's to come. I can't imagine the first game of the 2011 playoffs will be the hardest. I just hope Rose makes it out alive.

"What I don't want are fourth-quarter technicals; I can tell you that," Thibodeau said. "So we have to be smart. Teams that are smart ultimately win. I think you have to find that balance of playing very aggressively but very smart."

"This is the playoffs," Thibodeau said. "There are going to be fouls
like that. This is ordinary. This is no big deal. Just play. That's what
we have to do. All that other stuff is nonsense."

-- I could write 500 words on Boozer, but I'll defer to Matt for now if only because I'm short on time.

Boozer was terrible. We've heard the warnings about playoff Boozer (and it's a bit unfair if you look at his non-Lakers
performances) and we saw both the awful defense (simply. not. moving.)
and an inability to get clean looks inside against a tall but not
overwhelming Pacers front line. The way Hansbrough abused him
(primarily. Hansbrough was also having success against Gibson and Noah)
was startling, and Boozer combined lazy play with stupid play,
especially on a foul of a breaking Hansbrough that he had no chance of
stopping the basket (and worse, if he did make more contact it would've
been a clear flagrant).

I don't expect the Pacers to do more than take 1 at Conseco after that loss, but it certainly made me excited for some '90s retro series this decade in which Indiana can't quite get over the top because they lack a true superstar. Lots of anger, small-market resentment, etc. The Knicks are too soft to reprise that role.

Both teams have a top 5 hate him if he's not on your team guy (Noah & Hansbrough), which is always fun. Not that Hansbrough was a good pick, but good job picking up the white David West, Larry, I guess.

By the fashion, novel appearance, sophisticated technology, superior quality, coach outlet won domestic and international customers, their products exported to the Middle East, Southeast Asia and other regions. Using a range of quality fabrics and materials, coach outlet store online are durable and modish. No wonder they are loved by million of fad-seekers. As our Coach Outlet Online guarantees high quality for you, we have gained more customers'trust. The more they order, the more discounts they will enjoy.

Welcome to order Discount louis vuitton uk and lead a fashionable, luxury and elegant life from our Louis Vuitton Canada Outlet Store. Enjoy the shopping now here! Louis Vuitton Outlets offer famous classic brand for LV,Channel, with perfect service.So become to the VIP soon.They offer more new styles,like LV purses,LV wallets etc. And are tested by product quality monitoring center . Louis Vuitton Outlet is the perfect place for perfect Louis Vuitton products. At here, you can buy the best quality Louis Vuitton handbags, shoes, sunglasses and wallets. All items are triple-checked before they're delivered to you and make sure that the product don't have any flaw.

Coach handbags with double-stitched seams and handles, added inside pockets, and only the finest leathers. we guarantee the toppest handbags at low price you will find from Coach Outlet Online. Once visit, you will be unable to restrain loving it. Warmly welcome all of you to the Summer Sales Promotion on Coach Factory Outlet. coach outlet handbags You can not just save your cash but also your time inside a convenient way to obtain the exact same bags product and do not be concerned the shippment of one's products.

Coach Factory Outlet is famous for the discounts it offers. Latest coach purses and sunglasses can be purchased at discounted rates from this coach outlet store. It is believed that you will like the products on the Coach Factory Online. There are spacious sizes and different colors, styles and so on. You can discover all types of style and design bags on coach factory outlet online, including the hot selling coach purses and coach wallets. The coach wallets are popular among the designer luxury, simply due to their craftsmanship is extremely good as well as the price is reasonable to you.

The Louis Vuitton bags can be purchased from any exclusive shop or in the malls at very inexpensive prices. Most of these products are produced from canvas meaning they are waterproof so because of this ideal during the boisterous months.

But if you do have check-in baggage, it juicy couture purse works well as a small carry-on. Because it cheap juicy couture is a very light spinner with side pockets

Leave a comment

Name

Email Address

URL

Remember personal info?

Comments
(You may use HTML tags for style)

Warning: include() [function.include]: http:// wrapper is disabled in the server configuration by allow_url_include=0 in /nfs/c01/h09/mnt/13075/domains/tremendousupsidepotential.com/html/2011/04/bulls_104_pacers_99_welcome_to.php on line 1032

Warning: include(http://www.tremendousupsidepotential.com/sidenew.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /nfs/c01/h09/mnt/13075/domains/tremendousupsidepotential.com/html/2011/04/bulls_104_pacers_99_welcome_to.php on line 1032